1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a check valve for an air suspension mechanism, and more particularly to a check valve provided in an air spring of a MacPherson strut type air suspension mechanism for an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a MacPherson strut type air suspension mechanism, a shock absorber is surrounded with a housing and an elastic body like a diaphragm to form an air chamber which is filled with compressed air to constitute an air spring.
Now, since in prior art suspensions a connection between the air chamber and a tube for supplying compressed air to the air chamber is not provided with a check valve for blocking flow of the compressed air from the air chamber to the tube, the compressed air in the air chamber leaks when the tube gets out of place, so that car height might be reduced and adversely effect controllability, riding comfort and may damage the diaphragm.
Also, conventionally, after the suspension is mounted on a car body, the air chamber is connected to an air supply source such as an air compressor through a tube mounted on the car body to supply compressed air to the air chamber. Thus, since the air chamber can not be filled with the compressed air until the suspension is mounted on the car body to enable the car to be run, air leaking from the air chamber could not be detected even when the shock absorber, the housing and the diaphragm are manufactured as an assembled unit. Further, since the air chamber could not be filled with dry air before the shock absorber is mounted on the automobile, a large capacity dryer is needed on the car body. Furthermore, when the suspension is installed in the car body in a production line, the car height is reduced to make it difficult to adjust the clearance and alignment of each part in the car body since the air chamber is not filled with compressed air.